Cash in store for trio of Fylde garden projects

A bumper £30,000 is to heading for Fylde to fund three garden and open-spaces projects after Tesco shoppers took part in an in-store vote.
Tesco Bags of Help is boosting Fylde projectsTesco Bags of Help is boosting Fylde projects
Tesco Bags of Help is boosting Fylde projects

All three projects were approved by Tesco bosses under the Bags of Help promotion and shoppers were then asked which scheme they preferred.

The poll-topping scheme, at Blackpool Road North Playing Fields, is to receive £12,000 while a Lytham Hall project is granted £10,000 and the St Annes Peace and Sensory Garden £8,000.

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The £12,000 grant, won by the Blackpool Road North scheme, backed by Fylde Council in conjunction with the Friends of Blackpool Road North, will fund a new perimeter health walk, extra planting, benches and trees. It is hoped the cash will ‘kickstart’ the project and help the Friends group secure other match-funded grants.

The £8,000 for the seafront Peace and Sensory Garden will be used for extra planting which will include more colourful and scented flowers, retaining a formal layout but adding a series of brass plaques featuring humorous comments from the area’s entertainers such as Bobby Ball, Les Dawson, George Formby and Jenny Éclair.

Johanna Wood, Fylde Council’s landscape and design officer, said: “Fylde already has notable parks and open spaces but £30,000 will improve them further.

“The popular Les Dawson statue inspired us to rename this area of the Promenade as the ‘Peace and Happiness Garden’ and we feel we can improve the garden further by including quotes from some of the nation’s top entertainers who have links with the area.

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“We don’t yet know when work will start although new planting is usually done in the autumn and a condition of the grants is that the money must be spent within 12 months.”

Simon Thorpe, Project Manager at Lytham Hall, said: “To receive £10,000 from the Tesco Bags of Help fund makes a big difference to a charity like ourselves. This money will allow us to improve a highly visible area adjacent to the garden wall as well as enable us to put in much-needed bike racks to encourage cyclists. Thanks to all those customers who voted for us.”

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